Fic's by the hundred
by Author Pendragon Of Camelot
Summary: Many, many short stories to do with Merlin - some romance, some humour, some friendship, but mostly reveals. Each one will be from 100-500 words. Tell me if there's any you think I could make into its own story!
1. chapter 1

" _Arthur_ , _look out_!"

The knife came flying out of nowhere. He thought all the bandits were dead? Apparently not. Arthur didn't duck in time - he couldn't, the weapon was so fast. It was like someone had propelled it through the forest with a slingshot.

Merlin's eyes flashed a shimmering gold, just as Arthur turned towards him to see what was wrong...

The knife came to a clean stop, right in front of Arthur's heart. He froze. The weapon dropped to the ground.

Oh gods.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed after a seccond. "That... That was magic!"

"What?" Oh Gods, Arthur was going to have him killed! "No, I'm sure there's another explanation, Sire..." Uther would have a pure set up before nightfall, he was practically dead already!

"Don't try to deny it. I saw it with my own eyes! And... Merlin?"

The warlock looked at him through scared eyes. He was tense and alert, poised ready to bolt if necessary.

"If my father catches you, he will have a pure built within an hour."

"What?"

"You heard."

"You mean... You won't?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Do you _want_ to be killed? I can arrange it, if you insist-"

"No, no. I mean... You'd lie to your father to protect me?"

"It's not lying... More... Not mentioning a fact that I have recently learned of. And it's a good job it's a long walk back to Camelot... You have some explaining to do."


	2. chapter 2

**A/N: Warning! Slash ahead! :D**

" _Merlin_!" an angry voice thundered from the accused's bedroom door. An old looking man with white, wispy hair stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips. The armour that had been polishing itself, and the stone that had been magically sharpening a sword both clashed to the ground noisily, the chest plate clattering to that he ground with a metal clang like a drum.

"Yes?" Merlin said innocently, wincing slightly. He was sat cross legged on a hard looking bed, book slammed shut and half under a pillow.

"You know that you cannot use your magic so openly! What if I were Arthur? Or worse, Uther? What would you do then?" Gaius pointed an accusing finger at the boy, interrupting before he could answer. "I'll tell you what you'd be doing, you'd be burning on the pire that they would have built!"

"I know," He sighed. "It's just I've got so much to do, what with Arthur and you and everything else!"

"That is no excuse, Merlin! I will not watch you being decapitated or roasted because you felt overworked!"

"Sorry."

"If Arthur came in and saw you performing magic like you were then, what word he do?"

What _would_ he do? That was the question, wasn't it? The reason why he still didn't know. Would he burn him? Decapitate him? Simply run him through? Or... Would he smile? Tell him it made no difference? Lecture him on lying and then send him to muck out the stables?

Pah. Yeah right. "He'd have me killed," Merlin sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Because I'm ' _evil_ ' and can't be trusted. I'll probably try to take over the kingdom any day now like everybody else. It won't even cross his mind that I don't _want_ to rule or run anything. He won't even consider the fact that I might actually fight in his side, like I have for all these years. It'll be impossible for him to believe that I'm actually loyal to him, because sorcerers can't be loyal to anyone but themselves - in his words. If I tell him how much I've helped him over the years he'd laugh. If I told him that we're 'two halves of the same coin', he'd mock. If I told him how much I loved him... " A tear fell. "He'll never love me back... He doesn't love me back..."

Meanwhile, Arthur stood, poised to open the door, shocked into a stupor. His lip trembled, and a lone tear slid down his cheek. He had heard it all.

And the worst thing was...

He loved him too.


	3. chapter 3

"Hey, Merlin," Arthur sat at his desk casually, watching Merlin picking up a pair of dirty socks from under his bed. He held them out at arms length in front of him, and then eventually just flung them towards the door for later.

"Hm?"

"Let's play a game."

Merlin considered this. He had things to do, but then a game was much more appealing than dirty socks, so he agreed. "What game?"

"Well, you have to say the first word that pops into your head after each other. Like, if I said blackberry, you might say fruit, then I'd think of apples, you might think of grapes, then wine, then a glass, and so on. Get it?"

"Kind of..."

"Great! I'll start. Merlin."

" Yes? "

Arthur sighed. "You idiot," he said. "That's the first word!"

"Oh. Alright then... Brilliant."

"Myself."

"Really?"

"Shut up, Merlin!"

"Alright! Prat."

"Girl's petticoat."

"Idiot."

"You."

"Servant."

"Wrong."

"What? 'course I'm your servant!"

"Didn't say you weren't. Technically."

"Okay, what would you have thought of after that word?"

Arthur bit his lip. If he said it, everything would change. But how could he just go on like nothing had happened?

"Sorcerer."

There were no words. Only the king and the Warlock's quiet breathing. They stared at each other.

"... What?" Merlin squeaked weakly.

"You heard." Arthur's voice was steady.

"But... I... I'm not-"

"You really are the worst lier, aren't you Merlin?"

"I don't -"

"Merlin."

The warlock stared open mouthed at Arthur. How did he know? He hadnt used magic since... Oh.

Two days ago, Merlin had been really fed up. Arthur had used him for training, then Gaius made him collect herbs from the forest for him, _then_ he mucked out the stables, brought the king his lunch, dressed him, got him a bath, and _then_ , he had been told to polish his armour, sharpen his sword and clean his boots. Which he did in his room. But not the normal way... But he was exhausted! He would have passed out if he had to do much more! A little magic now and then isn't awful, is it? On most occasions... Arthur had walked in on floating armour and swords, with cloths dunking themselves into the water, dancing around.

Oops.

"This game isn't such fun anymore..."

"Come on, Merlin! Spill!"

"Please, Arthur, I wouldn't ever use it against you, I never-"

"Oh, I know." Arthur stated plainly, like he had never had another thought. "You're loyal, perhaps more so than the majority of my knights. You'd never hurt me or anyone else - hell, you wouldn't touch a fly. Literally."

"Uh, alright..."

"You really are a complete idiot, aren't you? Magic in Camelot... Now, explain!"


End file.
